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Sicko - Movie Review

By Allison Kugel, Senior Editor - June 25, 2007

Sicko, A Film by Michael Moore

Michael Moore, Speaking with National
Health Services Doctor in England

Michael Moore, in Paris

A big fan of Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11,
I anxiously awaited the opportunity to attend a screening of Sicko,
the documentation of Michael Moore's latest target - the American Healthcare
System. In usual Michael Moore fashion, the film starts out with emotional
images of two men who are without health insurance: one man is seen stitching
up his own knee at home; the other man is missing the top of his middle
finger, as he could only afford to re-attach the top of his ring finger,
after an accident sliced them both off. Michael Moore's voiceover introducing
these two men is a mix of sympathy and sarcasm. Sarcasm not pointed at
the subjects in his film, but an expression of rage directed towards a
system where 50 million Americans are without health insurance in the
wealthiest country on earth. He then goes on to explain in this opening
voiceover, that it is not the uninsured that he wishes to focus on in
Sicko, but rather the victimization of the 250 million trusting
Americans who do have health insurance, and who dutifully pay their premiums
month after month, assuming that in their time of need, their in insurance
provider will be there for them. As we learn amidst this harrowing journey
of personal tales from both people who were denied the proper coverage
by their health insurance company, as well as guilt ridden confessions
of both present and former insurance company employees, this is not the
case. And surprise, surprise HMOs are the worst offenders. As a
PPO insured American, I couldn't help but feel thankful at my privilege
of being able to see specialists without a referral, and that my claims
are only denied once in a while, when my insurance provider is having
a really bad day. 8 times out of 10, I'm ahead of the game. Shouldn't
it be 10 out of 10 for everyone?

While this is, in fact, a movie review, I feel somewhat
compelled to also review our healthcare system and the insurance companies
who have it in a chokehold. This irresistible urge on my part is a strong
testament to the message of the film that Michael Moore had hoped to get
across. As Sicko unfolds, we hear families recount how their insurance
companies pulled the rug out from under them, deeming necessary procedures
and medication to be "experimental." In one young girl's case,
her insurance company refused to pay for a second cochlear implant, leaving
her deaf in one ear. Upon receiving a letter from her father stating that
he would be telling his story to filmmaker Michael Moore, the insurance
company suddenly had a change of heart and decided to spring for the child's
second cochlear implant. Another man was not so lucky. Suffering from
terminal cancer and in dire need of a bone marrow transplant and medication,
his insurance company denied his claims and desperate pleas, falling back
on one of their favorite words, "experimental." The man died
a few weeks later, leaving behind a loving wife and child.

Recognizing that the word "socialized" is taboo
in the United States, Michael Moore decides to take his cameras to some
other countries where healthcare is universal, to see just how it works
and why we don't have it here. His first stop was right across the border
in Canada, where Michael Moore first met up with two of his relatives
who happen to reside north of the border. They expressed trepidation in
coming to the states for even one day without medical coverage, for fear
of having an accident or falling ill during a visit, and being slapped
with an exorbitant hospital bill that they can't afford to pay. As a result,
they won't set foot on American soil without health insurance. Moore then
spoke to another Canadian gentleman who was playing a leisurely game of
golf. He expressed the same concerns regarding a non-insured visit to
the United States. When asked by Moore why Canadians have universal free
healthcare, the man replied, "The ones who have need to look after
the ones who don't. We take care of each other." Moore then went
on to make a valid point that many Americans have not stopped to consider.
We treat socialism as a dirty word in the states but we do engage in socialism.
We have socialized education, socialized police and firefighters and socialized
road maintenance. Those basic services are paid for out of our tax dollars
and are provided to us, free of charge. After all, that's not where the
big money is. Sickness is big business in America, and health insurance
companies and pharmaceutical companies are cashing in with deductibles,
high premiums and heavily marked up drugs that are virtually unaffordable
to the average American. Moore then throws in a vintage clip where former
President Richard Nixon is meeting with his aide, John Ehrlichman, who
says, "Well, this is how it's going to work, these HMOs. They're
going to make more money by providing less care. The less care they give
them, the patients, the more money the company makes." Nixon replies,
"Oh, not bad." According to Sicko, to maximize profits,
insurance company executives are expected to deny a certain percentage
of claims every month, no matter how legitimate the claims may be. In
fact, they are rewarded with bonuses and promotions for doing so, as told
to Moore in some very candid interviews with former insurance company
employees.

Michael Moore

New Parents Receiving Free Child Birth
Hospital Services

One clip that I found especially poignant was footage
of Dr. Linda Peeno, a physician and former employee of the Humana HMO.
She testified to famously denying a man a necessary heart transplant,
thus leading to his subsequent death, yet saving Humana $500,000. In the
movie, Damaged Care, which chronicles Dr. Linda Peeno's experiences
(starring actress Laura Dern), after denying a deserving Humana customer
his necessary heart transplant, she then witnesses the company building
a tremendous fountain in their lobby. When Dr. Peeno (played by Dern)
inquires about the cost of the fountain in Damaged Care she is
told that the cost of the fountain is coincidentally, $500,000.

Moore shoots a good part of the second half of Sicko
abroad in England and France, where he explores their healthcare systems.
While in England, Moore interviews physicians working in England's socialized
healthcare system, as well as a government official and some British citizens.
When he sees a couple being discharged from the hospital with a newborn
baby, Moore asks, "How much did that baby cost?" Their response
was, "Nothing. This isn't America." It seems the fact that we
pay for our healthcare, and the idea of new parents paying to have their
baby, is somewhat of a laughing stock in other counties. When Moore attempts
to play devil's advocate and grills a London based physician about the
ills of working for the government as opposed to working privately, the
doctor explains that his sole focus is to help people to get well, not
on money. He is paid a healthy sum by the government which affords his
family a luxury car and home that cost him the equivalent of one million
American dollars. He further explains that in England, the government
provides doctors with bonuses for keeping patients healthy. The healthier
the patients, the more they get rewarded. The more they engage in the
practice of preventative medicine with their patients, the better they
do financially. What a concept! In France we see how patience are encouraged
to stay in the hospital as long as they need in order to properly recuperate
and heal. There is no limit that is contingent to what your insurance
company is willing to pay for. It simply doesn't exist. In stark contrast,
we watch an elderly woman get literally kicked to the curb from a Los
Angeles hospital due to lack of insurance. As this shocking scene unfolds,
a resident doctor of the hospital admits that kicking people out onto
the street for lack of insurance is not an uncommon practice at their
hospital.

Michael Moore

Perhaps the biggest insult that was exposed in Sicko,
was a group of 9/11 volunteer rescue workers, suffering from various residual
ailments, who cannot get the care they desperately need, due to uncooperative
HMOs and unsympathetic government officials. In a move clearly orchestrated
for theatrical affect, Moore assembles these former volunteer workers
and takes them on a boat to Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp where our federal
detainees and terrorism suspects are held, and where ironically, every
detainee is provided with free quality healthcare. Moore, with bullhorn
in hand, declares, "We just want the same healthcare that the evil-doers
are getting." After his cries are ignored (as he knew they would
be ahead of time), the group heads over to Cuba, where some Cuban doctors
heroically provide treatment for the bunch, at no cost.

Though Moore has a tendency to heighten his messages
by playing on emotions as opposed to intellect, he does provide adequate
facts and statistics to justify the emotional manipulation, thus making
it a fair and balanced piece. Though Moore is notoriously accused of one-sided
editing in all of his films, all of the editing in the world can't change
some of the gruesome truths that Sicko uncovers.